Bruised Or Healed
by SpiritGoddess
Summary: CHRISTMAS CHAPTER SPECIAL NOW UP! :D ... Naruto disappears from Konoha Village & Sakura's mother kicks her out of the house & won't let her back in until she found a job, but everything just seems a living hell for Sakura ...NaruSaku
1. Chapter One: Work!

*~*~* Bruised or Healed *~*~* 

~ Chapter One ~ 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto *sniff* ;__; 

Author's Note: Hi everyone! This is my first Naruto Fanfic so I hope it's a decent one! It's a NaruSaku because they're such a CUTE (unofficial) couple! By the way it takes place when Naru/Saku are eighteen. I was about to make this a one-shot but more thing came to mind so it will be about three chapters or something well anyways I hope you all enjoy it ya? ^_~ This one is for you Tari-chan! ^___^ 

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Haruno Sakura was in a peaceful slumber but awakened by the sun ray's stinging her eyes. 

"Damn rays ... Great another pointless day," said Sakura in a dismal tone and she climbed out of her bed. 

She looked at her clock and it read 10:14 AM. She walked lazily into the bathroom for a shower. By the time she got out it was about thirty minutes until noon. 

"SAKURA! I'd like to have a word with you!" shouted an angry female voice. 

"In a minute let me get changed," replied Sakura still in dismal tone. 

It took her roughly ten minutes to get changed and she started making her down stairs to speak with her angered mother. 

"Yes mom? What do you want to say?" asked Sakura as she walked into the living room. 

"Sakura! How many times have I told you not to take showers that are over 30 minute's! You took an hour! Don't you know how much water your wasting on the bill!" shouted Mrs. Haruno. 

"I'm sorry mom," said Sakura in monotone. 

"Sorry?!! Sorry this! Sorry that! From now on you're going to work and get money and pay for your own showers!" shouted Sakura's mom angrily. 

"Yes mother," replied Sakura. 

"Now get out and look for a job!" demanded Sakura's mother. 

Sakura nodded and made her way towards the door. 

"And don't come back untill you found that job! Do I make myself clear!" replied Mrs.Haruno sharply. 

"Crystal," said Sakura with a sigh as she walked out the door. 

"My poor Sakura I don't mean to be so rough on her but if she gets a job it may help her getting over her depression, she's been so depressed after that Naruto boy left," said Mrs. Haruno to herself. 

'That job better help her get over that stupid Naruto boy! She can't love him! She has to marry a real man!' said the Inner Mrs. Haruno {A/N: I don't know if Mrs. Haruno actually has an alter-ego but just pretend she does for this Fanfic ya!} 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SAKURA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

'Hmm now I need to work, meh I'll look for a job later," said Sakura to herself. 

She saw Sasuke walk by but she didn't say anything to him. 

"I can't believe I wasted my time liking him and it was for nothing! I was such a lame kid! He always pushed me away and never gave me respect and I still loved him. But Naruto always treated me like a goddess but I never noticed I loved him until he left, they way he would always happily greet me but I'd always respond coldly like Sasuke would to me but now it's to late ... I just miss Naruto so much," said Sakura to herself quietly as tears brimmed around her eyes. She blinked the tears away and continued walking. 

'I might as well look for a job,' thought Sakura to herself she continued walking and she came across a Ramen stand. 

'Why does everything always have to remind me of him! I need to get him out of my mind!' thought Sakura angrily to herself as she walked away from the Ramen stand. 

Sakura went through many places, which needed employees, but none of them accepted her so far. 

"Great this is my lucky day but I told my mother I wouldn't come home until I had a job," said Sakura pessimistically as she continued to look for more jobs. 

By now it was about the afternoon and Sakura still had no job. 

'Screw this,' though Sakura to herself as she gave up looking for jobs. 

'It's pointless no one would hire me, I have no experience and I'm useless,' thought Sakura angrily to herself as she began walking not to sure of where her feet were taking her. 

She soon came across a park but she didn't notice it until she heard cheerful giggles. Sakura looked up to see a bunch of kids playing on swings, slides anything you could find in a park. Sakura looked around the place seemed familiar to her. Soon a soft smile came across her lips. 

'I used to come here all the time when I was little, it's changed to much since I last came,' thought Sakura to herself. 

She sat took a seat on a bench and watched the kids (around 11 years old) but there was a girl that caught her attention. She had shoulder-length light brown hair which was tied with a pink headband. The little girl clinged onto a boy's arm. He seemed to have a cold look on his face. 

"Leave me alone Kyoko! I don't like you!" said the boy coldly as he pushed her away. 

Right after the boy pushed her off two ninja-stars came and bounced of the boys head. And from behind the bushes jumped out a boy with flaming red hair and azure eyes. 

"How dare you push my precious Kyoko-chan! " said the boy as he took out his kunai. 

Sakura had a small smile on her face she couldn't help it she found it too cute. 

"Drop dead Kisaku! I don't need help from loser's like you!" said Kyoko as she stood up and dusted her pants. 

"B-But Kyoko-chan! Please I'm not that bad! I'm like that loser Samato!" pleaded Kisaku {A/N: In case this is confusing since I do tend to be confusing Kisaku is the redhead boy}. 

"No! And Samato is NOT a loser! You're annoying! So leave me alone!" retorted Kyoko forcefully as she ran away. 

Kisaku watched her run away with a wistful look upon his face and watched until she was out of sight. He saw Samato walk away and a look of fury came across Kisaku's face. 

"Samato! Don't move!" shouted Kisaku angrily but Samato ignored Kisaku and continued walking away and soon was out of sight. 

"Life sucks, I seem to be a pain in the ass for everyone. But they'll see someday that I'll be great! And they'll all want to be around me! Now I have to train more!" said Kisaku as he started doing laps around the park. 

Sakura had a look of anguish across her face and she felt as thought she was about to scream. She covered her mouth and ran into the nearby forest. She removed her eyes and let out a shrill scream. Sakura dropped to the ground after her scream and started crying. 

"Damn it! Why ... does everything conclude to Naruto. Those kids at the park ... it was like many situations that happen between Naruto, Sasuke and I ... Why am I such an idiot to notice how much Naruto means to me now!" cried Sakura angrily as tears coming down her face. 

"Well there's no use to cry about it, he's gone and he isn't coming back, I have to take this like a mature woman," said Sakura as she wiped away her tears and stood up. 

"I wanna go home but I don't have a stupid job yet!" said Sakura with a growl. 

"Maybe I should ask help from Hinata? And I should pay her a visit it's been awhile since I last saw her," said Sakura as she started making her over to Hinata's home. 

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Mean while a boy with bright blonde hair and crystal blue eyes was on his way to his home which was located in a deep forest. Sweat running down from his temple and down his cheek, he had obviously just finished training. He continued walking until he reached a wooden cabin he walked in a dropped onto his bed. He turned to his left to his night table, he opened a drawer and took out a picture frame. 

The picture had his teammates and his instructor from years back. Naruto was standing in the middle with his tongue sticking out and had both is hands doing a 'peace' sign. Sasuke was on the left with a cold look on his face and his arms crossed. Sakura was to the right of Naruto and had both her hands on his head ruffling his hair and slightly pushing him down towards the ground. And behind the three was {A/N: Beloved!!} Kakashi with his nose stuck in his book (Icha Icha Paradise). 

He looked at the picture halfheartedly. And shifted is gaze towards the right (Sakura) and look of longing came across his face. 

"Sakura-chan," 

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That's it for Chapter one! I hope you liked it! And it's safe to say that chapter two will be better ^___^ Please review! I would love to know what you think also please feel more then free to tell me!! ^___^ Thanks for reading and don't forget to review, Your opinions (good or bad) mean alot to me! ^___^ Ja ne! 

~SpiritGoddess 


	2. Chapter Two: The Interview

*~*~* Bruised or Healed *~*~* 

~ Chapter Two ~ 

Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto it belongs Masashi Kishimoto! He's my HERO!!!!!! ^.^ 

Author's Note: Hey time for the new chappie! I was so surprised with how much reviews I got! I was expecting WAY less!! I felt so special!! Thanks everyone who reviewed!! You're all so great! ^__^ And since I'm so happy I made the chapter longer! Now on with the story! Wait one more ting I forgot to mention that the story takes place in the fall! Some author I am to forget to write that lol! Well thank you reading and reviewing! I'm so so happy! 

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Sakura was at a bus stop waiting for the bus, which seemed to take forever! 

"I hope the bus comes soon," said Sakura softly 

'Damn bus! That lazy-ass driver should put the pedal to the metal! I'm a busy woman here!!' raged Inner Sakura. 

And around the corner came the bus. It slowly drove towards the bus top and stopped infront of Sakura. The bus door opened and Sakura walked in. 

"Good day," greeted the bus driver. Sakura smiled and nodded and walked through the isle looking for a spare seat. About every seat was taken except for one, which was located beside a window she walked over and took a seat. For the ride to Hinata's house Sakura spend most of it looking out the bus window. 

~Later~ 

Sakura had just got off the was and she only had one block to walk through before she was at Hinata's house she looked through some store window's on the way and stopped at the jewellery store. She spotted a necklace, which caught her attention. It was a sterling silver necklace with a pink crystal cherry blossom for a pendant. 

"It's so pretty, maybe with my new job I could use the money to buy that for me! Well I can't just stand here and window shop I gotta go get me a job!" said Sakura with great enthusiasm and she started sprinting the rest of the way to Hinata's house. 

Sakura kept jogging until she came across an enormous mansion-like house with a dojo attached to it. Sakura looked at the house with awe. It had a beautiful garden full of life and colour. 

"This is definatly it," said Sakura with a smile as she walked up the stairs. The stairs lead to a regal wooden door with golden handles and next to it was a doorbell. Sakura extended her arm and rang it. A few moments later the door opened to reveal Hinata. 

"Hi Sakura, what brings you here?" asked Hinata kindly as she opened the door wider to let Sakura in. 

"I really need you to help me with something, can you please help me!" said Sakura sounding slightly desperate as she walked into the house. 

"Of course, let me take you to the living room to discuss it," said Hinata formally while shutting the door. 

"Thank you so much!" said Sakura, taking off her shoes. 

Hinata nodded and lead Sakura towards the living room. On the way there Sakura admired some random paintings. 

"Here we are," said Hinata opening massive wooden doors to reveal the Hyuga living room. It had a piano with a bunch of couches around. 

"Please, take a seat," said Hinata as she walked in the room. Sakura followed and took a seat on a dark red couch. 

"These are so comfy!" said Sakura sounding pleased. 

"Thank you," replied Hinata modestly. 

"Now what can I help you with?" asked Hinata sounding concerned. 

"Well you see this morning I took a long shower and it got my mom really pissed off so she kicked me out of the house and said for me not to come back until I found a job so I can pay for my own water bill. So what I mainly need to ask you is ... Could you help me with finding a job! PLEASE!!" pleaded Sakura. 

Hinata smiled. "Of course I will. What kind of friend would I be if I did nothing to help?" said Hinata sweetly. 

"Thanks Hinata you're the best," said Sakura with gratitude. 

"But one question, is it really that hard to find a job? When I got my first job it was much more simple," said Hinata with a slightly confused looked. 

"Well for me it was, none of them would hire me because I wasn't experienced and stuff but how am I supposed to have experience if none of them hires me! It's so stupid!!" raged Sakura. 

Hinata smiled. "I think I have a job for you," spoke Hinata in her usually quiet tone. 

"What is it?!" asked Sakura very eagerly. 

"A nanny," answered Hinata simply. 

"A nan...ny?" replied Sakura sounding slightly confused. "Why?" 

"Well I have an uncle who has two kids and well he is so busy with his job and he tries to even out his time between his children and his job but it's so difficult for him and he's been looking for a nanny but so far he's had no luck and since you are also looking for a job maybe you could be the nanny," said Hinata with a small smile on her face. 

"I'm not to sure, I don't think I'm that great with kids," replied Sakura in anxiety. 

"You are, I've seen you with kids before you good with them your gentle and fun with them and I also know that you like kids," said Hinata. 

"Yeah it's true! There so cute! They way their big eyes sparkle and that cute innocent smile!! But are you sure I could be a nanny?" asked Sakura still in anxiety. 

"Yes I have complete faith in you! I know you will do well," replied Hinata honestly. 

"You know your right! I can do this how hard can it be! I'll take it!" said Sakura now with full enthusiasm. 

"That's great! My uncle will be so relieved! I'll call him tonight and get an interview for you and I'll call you back with the results," replied Hinata. 

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!" said Sakura hugging Hinata tightly. 

"Your very welcome Sakura," said Hinata in a small voice. Sakura let her go noticing that she was practically cutting off her dear friends circulation. 

Hinata smiled. "Now that that's settled. Would you like some tea? I just bought pastries so we could also eat those they're very delicious. Would you like some?" asked Hinata kind-heartedly. 

"Yeah sure! I'll help you prepare!" said Sakura enthusiastically. 

"Thank you!" replied Hinata with a smile as she started leading Sakura to the kitchen. 

"Anything for a friend!" said Sakura cheerfully while following Hinata. 

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"MOM I'M BACK!" shouted Sakura while walking into her house. 

"Did you get a job?!" asked Mrs. Haruno shouting out from the kitchen. 

"Not exactly but I have an interview," answered Sakura as she took off her shoes. 

"That's great sweetie! You're soon going to learn more about adult responsibility's," said Mrs. Haruno proudly. 

"That's great mom," said Sakura was she walked into the kitchen. She saw her mother in front of the stove; Sakura assumed that she was making dinner. 

"What's for dinner?" asked Sakura curiously eyes the pot over the stove 

"Food," replied Mrs. Haruno simply not looking at Sakura. 

"Great, I'll be in my room if you need me for anything," said Sakura bluntly as she started making her way to her room. 

She got to her room and dragged her feet towards her bed and dropped down on it. 

"Hmmm I wonder how the kids are gonna be like? I hope they're not loud or spoiled brats that'd suck and I'd have to keep that job because I know mom would go berserk on me for quitting, well I just hope there good kids ... I'll most likely meet them on the interview ... OH MY GOD!! The interview!! What should I wear!!! I have to look responsible yet playful and fun! Ugh! I have to see what my closet has!!" worried Sakura in panic as she rushed towards her closet and started browsing like crazy through her closet. 

Clothes were being thrown around everywhere during Sakura's search. 

"AH HA! I found it!" said Sakura proudly as she pulled her outfit and laid it on her bed and as though on cue her phone started to ring. 

"IT'S HINATA!!!" shouted Sakura as she jumped across her bed to pick up the phone. 

"Hi! Did I get the job! Do I even have the interview!!!!" answered Sakura eagerly. 

"Hi Sakura. Yes you have the interview and I do hope you get the job," answered Hinata calmly. 

"THAT'S GREAT!!!! Oh Hinata! I picked out the perfect outfit! It's a camel coloured corduroy pants with a light pink tank top but not spaghetti straps and it also a blue blouse!!! Do you think it's good for the interview?" asked Sakura eagerly. 

"Yes it sounds great," said Hinata calmly. 

"Great!!! I'm happy you like it! Wait until you see is tomorrow!"cheered Sakura. 

"Oh yeah I also need to tell you that the interview will be tomorrow morning at eleven-thirty, is that fine for you?" asked Hinata. 

"Yeah it's fine but where does he live?" asked Sakura. 

"Oh about that! Do you mind if I come with you? I might not be there for the interview but I want to pay him a visit and also there's lots of things about them (the children) that I should tell you on the way there, is that fine with you?" asked Hinata shyly. 

"Yeah! That's great! I'm not gonna be as nervous! Thank God!" said Sakura with relief. 

"Well I must go now my mother is calling me, I'll come over tomorrow at ten-thirty. Does that sound good?" asked Hinata formerly. 

"Yes! That's good! See you tomorrow then!" said Sakura. 

"Ok... bye Sakura," said Hinata kindly as she hung up and phone. Sakura hung up her phone and laid down on her bed. 

"Ugh! I'm gonna have to get up so early tomorrow!!" complained Sakura. 

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"SAKURA!! HURRY! YOUR FRIEND IS GOING TO BE HERE IN LESS THEN TEN MINUTES!!" shouted Mrs. Haruno 

"I'M COMING! I'M COMING!!" shouted Sakura running down the stairs. 

"Oooh nice outfit!" complimented Mrs. Haruno. 

"Thanks!" said Sakura with a wink. Then there was a small knock on the door. 

"She's here!" squealed Sakura as she ran to open the door to reveal Hinata. 

"Hinata! Great! How are you?! Let's get going!" said Sakura quickly and cheerfully as she shut the door behind her. 

Hinata smiled. "Sakura are you nervous?" asked Hinata in her usual quiet tone. 

"Yeah, but this is my first interview it's kinda creepy," said Sakura with a nervous laugh. 

"Don't worry you'll do fine," assured Hinata. 

"Sakura remember to smile and look happy! Especially in front of the kids!" shouted Mrs. Haruno. 

Sakura looked behind her to see her mother standing infront of her house. 

"Ok mom! I'll remember that!" answered Sakura blushing with embarrasment. 

"Ok now we should get to the bus stop before we miss the bus," said Hinata with a small smile. 

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"Whoo, it's nice to get off that bus I can move," said Sakura happily. 

Hinata smiled. "It's now only about a ten minute walk until we get to my uncle's home," replied Hinata. 

~ Later ~ 

"Whoa! Ok I'm convinced now that huge mansion houses are genetic in your family!" said Sakura with amazement. 

Hinata smiled but was to shy to say anything in reply. 

Sakura took another good look at the mansion, it looked like those mansion's that were in the magazine's that her mother always had to read, the magazine's that were always about celebrities and their homes and how much money the mansions were worth. The house was white with dark green roofing; just by the look of the house Sakura could tell this was the home of a successful businessman. 

"Well I have an interview to get to," said Sakura with a sly smile as she walked to the doors. Hinata followed Sakura but Sakura stopped abruptly and Hinata bumped into her. 

"Sakura what's wrong?" asked Hinata shyly. 

"Those doors are so HUGE! And look at the doorbell! I bet it plays a song instead of the usual ding-dong {A/N: My friends doorbell does that it's so whoa-ish} tee hee!" said Sakura eagerly as she ran the doorbell but instead it did the usual ding-dong. 

'Sakura can honestly act like a child at times,' said Hinata to herself. 

Soon after the door opened and revealed a man dressed in a black suit, he looked well groomed and wealthy he looked youthful with all his ebony hair on his head and wrinkle free face but by the look of his eyes he seemed to be in his early forties and though he did not have a smile on his face he looked like he was a kind man. 

"Hinata it's so great to see you again! And you must be Haruno Sakura?" said the man in a kind tone. 

Sakura nodded. 

"It's great to see you also Ojisan {A/N: Ojisan means uncle, well middle aged uncle to be specific but yeah on with the fanfic ^__^}," said Hinata sweetly. 

"Both of you come in," said Yorokobi (Hinata's uncle) as he opened the door wider to let both the girls step in. 

"Hinata!!" shouted a voice of a young boy. He bolted towards Hinata and jumped on her and gave her a hug. 

"I missed you!" said the boy sweetly he had messy dark brown hair that reached his ears and he had bright hazel eyes he was slightly chubby but he didn't have anything near a fat body frame, he appeared to be around the age of six. 

"I missed you too Tsuki," said Hinata with a smile. 

"Come play with me! Daddy got me a new robot toy! It's walks and talks! Come see!" said Tsuki eagerly as he dragged Hinata away. 

"He's such an enthusiastic boy, now shall we start on the interview?" asked Yorokobi. 

Sakura smiled and nodded. He led her into the living room where she took a seat on a green leather sofa and he sat on the green leather sofa across from her. Sakura looked around and saw a black piano with a silver candleholder and white candles on it. 

"So I know you like children from Hinata but have you had experience with any?" asked Yorokobi sounding as if this were a business meeting. 

Sakura got slightly nervous. 'Ugh what do I say... wait! When I was twelve that little kid and his friends ... what's his name again ... Konohomaru! Well I never really babysat him but there was that time when I was with Naruto and he was around, that counts!' though Sakura to herself. 

"Yes! I have been with kids since I was twelve thus I have seven years of experience with kids," said Sakura proudly. 

"Yeah! This job is so mine! HELL YEAH!" said Inner-Sakura while punching air. 

"Really, that's great. Very good to hear," said Yorokobi with a smile. Then a ringing sound was heard, it sounded slightly faint. Yorokobi went into his pocket and took out a small cell phone. 

"Sorry Sakura-san this will be one minute," said Yorokobi as he answered the phone. 

"Hello? ... Yes ... I thought we took care of this last week? ... Now! I swear those idiots can't get anything straight I'll come and host the meeting ... ok bye," said Yorokobi sounding positive through most of his brief conversation. 

"I'm very sorry Sakura but this interview has to be cut short, a meeting suddenly came up but I think you will make a good nanny so how about while I'm out you can take care of my kids, I'll take their opinion about you since you will be taking care of them and not me, oh and before I leave, there's a blue folder on the dining room table, in there it say's information about the kids diet, the doctor numbers, anything you need to know about the kids, well I have to get going now, thank you so much for coming and sorry for cutting the interview short, I know my kids are in good hands," said Yorokobi quickly as he rushed out the door. 

"Ok all I got was that I'm taking care of his kids and that a folder is on the dining room table ... wait I'm taking care of his kids! I got the job!!! Or is this part of a test? Oh well! I'm getting a shot!" said Sakura with pure happiness. 

Sakura heard steps coming down from the stairs. Sakura walked to the stairs to see who was there. It was a girl she looked about the age of twelve, she had long sleek black hair and deep brown eyes, which wore a cold yet hurt looking expression. Her skin was a bit on the pale side; she wore purple pants with a black t-shirt. 

"Hello! I'm Sakura, your new nanny," answered Sakura sweetly. 

The girl looked at Sakura coldly and walked the rest of the way down the stairs and started walking past Sakura into the living room. 

'That didn't go to well, maybe if I read the stuff on his kids it'll probably get us closer?' Thought Sakura as she made her way to the dining room. The dining room wasn't to far from the living room. Sakura looked around and saw a blue folder. She smiled to herself and took hold of the folder there was at least twenty sheets of paper about the children, Sakura skimmed through to find what they both liked and she found 'both children like parks.' 

"This is great! Wait I need to find out the girls name," said Sakura as she started browsing around the sheets. 

The house was all quiet but the sound of music came, the music from a piano, the song was soft and slow but it had sadness to it. 

"Kuraku, her name is Kuraku," said Sakura with a smile. 

"Isn't my robot cool!" said Tsuki coming in the house with his small hand in Hinata's. 

"It's very cool, it does so many things," said Hinata with a smile. 

"Who are you?" asked Tsuki curiously looking over at Sakura. 

"I'm Sakura, I'm your new nanny," said Sakura with a smile. 

"Cool! ... Hey Kuraku is playing piano! I want her to play my song!" said Tsuki as he bolted towards the living room. 

"So you got the job," said Hinata with a smile. 

"Well sorta, a meeting suddenly came up so he said that while he's gone I'll take care of his kids and I suppose he'll ask them if they like me," answered Sakura. 

"That's great! I'm sure they'll like you, well I'll get going, I don't want to get in your way," said Hinata sweetly. 

"No Hinata you can stay," said Sakura hoping she'd stay in case anything bad was to happen. 

"I'm sorry I have to get home anyways father wants to talk to me," said Hinata not sounding to pleased. 

"All right, I'll see you later then," answered Sakura with a smile. Hinata nodded and made her way out of the house. 

Sakura skimmed through the sheets once again before placing them back into the folder. She walked towards the living room and as she walked in, she saw Kuraku playing the same soft song on the piano and Tsuki on the ground pretending to be asleep. 

"Hey why don't we go to the park and get some fresh air?" asked Sakura with a smile. 

Tsuki opened his eyes and jumped off from the ground while Kuraku was still playing the piano. 

"Really! Can I bring my robot to!" asked Tsuki. 

Kuraku's piano playing came to a sudden stop. "Father said you can't take that toy out in public, it could get damaged or stolen," said Kuraku solemnly. 

"I forgot that, stupid rules! I'll bring my red ball then!" said Tsuki as he bolted towards the stairs to go to his room. 

"Hey so which park do you usually go to?" asked Sakura. 

There was an awkward silence. "We usually go to the park near our school it has a playground and benches for people to sit on, it's not that far from here," replied Kuraku with no hint if any emotion. 

"OK that's sounds great, thank you," answered Sakura brightly. 

"I'm back! Sakura-san looks at my ball! It's red! My favourite colour!" said Tsuki with pure enthusiasm. 

"It's awesome! Now before we go to the park we need to get your shoes and coats on," said Sakura walking towards the halls. Tsuki closely followed Sakura while Kuraku had lots of space between her and Sakura. 

Sakura opened the closet and got out two coats. One was a light blue jean jacket, which she assumed was for Kuraku and a red wind jacket, which obviously was for Tsuki. Sakura handed both kids their jacket and they put them on but Tsuki seemed to be having troubles with his zipper. 

"Want me to help you with that Tsuki-kun?" asked Sakura. 

"I wanna do it, I know I can but you can help me with my shoe laces? I always try the bunny ears but it never works," said Tsuki with a small sigh. 

"Can I wait outside?" asked Kuraku bluntly. 

"Yeah sure but just stay out front," answered Sakura. 

"Ok," said Kuraku simply as she walked out. 

It took Tsuki about a minute to finally get the zipper of his jacket done up and he sat down for her to tie his shoes. 

"Thank you Sakura-san! Now's let's hurry to the park!" cheered Tsuki as he grabbed hold of Sakura's hand and led her out of the house. 

"Wait but don't I need to lock the door?" asked Sakura as Tsuki had just pulled her out of the house. 

"Here I have the key," said Kuraku holding it out to Sakura. 

"Thank you Kuraku-chan," replied Sakura sweetly as she took the key and locked the door. 

After a short walk they came across school, which was across a street. 

"Is that it?" asked Sakura. 

"Yes! Sakura-san can you push me on the swings! No wait let's play football (aka Soccer)! No catch! Let's play catch!" said Tsuki sounding as though he probably did finally make up his mind. 

"Sorry to burst your bubble Tsuki but he have to cross the street to get there," said Kuraku, as she looked both ways before walking across the street {A/N: Smart girl! Safety is always first!! ^___^}. 

Sakura too looked both ways and started waling but she didn't hear Tsuki behind her, she turned around and he reached his hand out. 

"Can you hold my hand? I'm not allowed to walk across the street alone," replied Tsuki cutely. 

Sakura smiled. "Sure thing kiddo!" said Sakura with a wink as she took hold of his hand and walked across the street. 

Sakura looked at the park there were no kids except for Kuraku who was on a swing. Sakura smiled to herself. 

"Sakura-san! Think fast!" said Tsuki as he threw the red ball. Sakura had no clue so the ball hit her on the head. 

'Ouch!' thought Sakura to herself as she rubbed her head. 

"I'm sorry Sakura-san I thought you would catch it," said Tsuki shyly looking down at the ground. 

"Don't worry about it, accidents happen," said Sakura as she picked up the ball and gently threw it to Tsuki. 

He caught and started bouncing it like a volleyball. 

"Look! I'm playing volleyball!" said Tsuki happily, he hit the ball extra hard and it went flying and started rolling on the road. 

Sakura walked towards the road to get it. 

"Sakura-san! I'll get it!" said Tsuki as he ran to the road. He stopped abruptly and looked both ways and walked to obtain his ball. Sakura turned to see how Kuraku was and she was still on the swings. Sakura looked back at Tsuki and saw a red sports car suddenly come around the corner it was coming at top speed and was going towards Tsuki. Fear covered Sakura's body and she bolted towards Tsuki to get him out of the way but the sports car kept getting closer. 

"Tsuki RUN!" shouted Sakura with fear. 

Tsuki looked up at the car and it was about five feet away from him. Sakura covered her eyes and started crying. It had been about one minute but Sakura heard no child in pain and she heard the sound of the car started getting faint. 

'The car was like five feet away from him, it should of hit him awhile ago,' thought Sakura, she took her tear streaked face out of her hands and looked at the street and saw Tsuki on the other side in the arms of a blonde haired man wearing a green track suit with orange trimming. Sakura's face brightened up. Sakura ran across the street and instantly put Tsuki in a tight embrace. 

"Tsuki-kun! I'm so sorry! I should have got the ball instead! Are you ok!" said Sakura as she started tearing up again. She looked up to see the hero. Her eyes opened up wide with shock. 

"Na-Naruto?" said Sakura quizzically. 'This has to be him, those eyes...' 

He smiled and replaced himself with a leaf. 

'That had to be him ... I know those eyes ... that smile anywhere,' 

"Sakura-san are you ok?" asked Tsuki. 

"That man do you know anything about him?" asked Sakura. 

"No I don't think so, let's play catch!" suggested Tsuki. 

"Aren't you scared of that ball! I'm not gonna let you out of my sight! You could have been killed!" said Sakura sounding all worried as she hugged Tsuki again. 

"But it's ok I'm alive, but I was sorta scared but ... I wanna play," said Tsuki as he ran across the street (safely). 

"But how? Shouldn't he? Oh well I should just thank God he's safe," said Sakura to herself with a sigh of relief. 

Sakura closed her eyes. "Thank you so much Naruto... Naruto-kun." 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Naruto was up in a high tree as he watched Sakura. 

"Sakura-chan, your still just as beautiful ... I just hope you haven't changed," said Naruto to himself as he jumped out of sight. 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Whoa! I'm finally done this chappie! I hope you all liked it! It took me awhile to finish it but anything to satisfy my readers! ^___^ Well please review and tell me what you think! I love to know you all think! Whether it's good or bad! ^___^ 

Oh yeah and also I noticed allot of people writing similar stuff in reviews like that the first chapter wasn't well detailed and the abrupt changes (such as Sakura no longer crushing on Sasuke). Well in this chapter I worked on being more detailed (I hope you noticed it) because I also agree that the first chapter wasn't well detailed and also about all the abrupt changes the reason for them will come in future chapters. Thank you so much for reading and please review! I love you all! ^0^ 

~SpiritGoddess 


	3. Chapter Three: Welcome Aboard

*~*~* Bruised or Healed *~*~* 

~ Chapter Three ~ 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wonder why we always have to write these? It's pretty obvious that we don't own it because we wouldn't be writing fanfics in the first place lol! 

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thanks for reviewing for last chapter! I swear! You people know how to make a person feel special!!!! Tee hee!!! ^_____^ 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* 

A couple of months have now passed since Sakura's interview. She was lying on her bed her eyes closed. 

"I'm so tired! Man those kids really tucker me out ... I still can't believe he actually gave me the job," said Sakura to herself as she rubbed her temples. 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = Flashback: The day of the Interview = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

It was getting late it was now nine at night. Sakura looked down at her watch and let out a small sigh. 

'How can a meeting be this long?' wondered Sakura. 

'Well at least my mom knows I'll be late,' said Sakura to herself again. 

"Sakura-san I'm getting sleepy," said Tsuki as he yawned. 

"Ok let's get you to bed," said Sakura as she brought Tsuki into her arms. He rested his head on her shoulder and wrapped both his arms around her. 

"Kuraku-chan are going to sleep to?" asked Sakura. 

"Yes, I have to it's my bedtime," stated Kuraku motionlessly as she started walking up the stairs. 

'Why does she have to talk like a goth? It's like she has no feelings, she seems to only know sadness ... I hope this isn't some horrible self-esteem issue that will lead her to suicide! Uh I'm thinking too much, it's just a phase! Sakura! Stop talking to yourself and get these kids to sleep!' said Sakura as she instantly snapped back to reality. 

She walked up the stairs and walked cluelessly through the hallways. 

"Now which one of these is his room?" asked Sakura to herself. She kept walking through as saw a door with a small red sign that said 'Tsuki' it looked hand painted by him. 

"That's convenient," stated Sakura with a smile as she walked into the room. 

She looked around with awe. His room was enormous! And it looked like a room any kid would dream of. With all of the colourful colours and bookshelf full of the greatest children books and a large toy box full of toys that bring the most of happiness. And his bed; the bed frame was a blue sports car and the bed had matching blue sheets and at the end of his bed it had a steering wheel. 

'His room is like a playground! And his bed, I bet this is his heaven!' thought Sakura with amazement. 

Sakura walked towards the bed and tucked Tsuki in. 

"Sakura-san what about my pyjamas?" asked Tsuki sleepily. 

"You can sleep in your clothes, I know for a fact that your to tired to move," said Sakura softly. 

"Ok Sakura-san, good night," murmured Tsuki falling into a peaceful slumber. 

Sakura smiled. She noticed that beside his bed he had a night-light. She turned it on and walked out of the room and turned of the lights. She looked back and smiled. 

'He looks so drained out,' thought Sakura to herself walking out and shutting the door. 

Sakura walked down the hall partly looking for Kuraku and partly just for the sake of walking. She continued walking and saw a black door with a silver moon painted on it. 

'Hopefully this is her room,' said Sakura to herself as she knocked on the door. She heard no answer. 

"Hello? Kuraku-chan?" asked Sakura softly as she slowly opened the door. 

There was a faint blue light coming from a blue moon shaped lamp. Sakura looked around and saw Kuraku hunched over her desk with her head resting on her arms. 

"Kuraku-chan are you alright?" asked Sakura softly. 

Kuraku popped her head off of her arms and stood up from her desk. 

"Yes! I'm fine!" Replied Kuraku sounding rather alarmed she quickly went over to her queen sized bed and jumped into it and wrapped the covers over herself. 

Sakura was able to get a quick look at Kuraku's face and saw silent tears streaming down her face. She bothered not to ask her questions about it. 

"Good night Kuraku-chan don't be afraid to give out a shout if you need anything," said Sakura softly as she walked out and closed the door. 

Sakura quietly walked down the stairs and into the kids' playroom. She sat on a royal blue bean bad chair in front of the TV. 

"Let's see if there's anything good on," said Sakura as she grabbed hold of the TV remote. As soon as she was about to turn the TV on she heard the massive entrance doors open. Sakura got up from her seat and walked to the entrance hall to see Yorokobi with a black suitcase full of paper work. 

"Hello Sakura-san. Sorry for coming back so late. The meeting ended longer then I thought it would. Anyways how are the kids?" asked Yorokobi with a smile. 

Sakura gave a nervous smile. 'Damnit! How do I tell him that I almost killed Tsuki?' wondered Sakura to herself. 

"They were great! So well behaved! We went to the park we were there for about three hours they really love it!" said Sakura brightly. 

"I'm glad you had such a great day. I'll take you home now I don't think it's safe for you to wait outside alone for the bus at this hour," said Yorokobi as he took his keys from his briefcase. 

"Uh before we go I have to tell you something. I nearly killed your son," said Sakura nervously looking down at the ground. 

Yorokobi had a confused look on his face. 

"Well I don't mean nearly killed him by having a knife at his throat but you see while we were at the park he and I were playing with his red ball and he hit it extra hard and it went across the street and I went to go get but he said he wanted to do it so I let him but I still watched him. He looked both ways across the street and it was safe so he crossed it but then this red super fast sports car came around the corner at top speed I tried running after him but the car was to fast. I swear I was so scared but this guy saved him! Tsuki-kun didn't even have a scratch I was so happy! I was in tears because I was so happy! But anyways I wasn't responsible so I understand if you don't want to hire me," said Sakura sincerely she looked up at Yorokobi and he had a serious look on his face but it turned into a soft smile. 

"That would be the right thing to do," said Yorokobi. Sakura gently nodded. 

"But I'm not going to. Sakura your hired!" said Yorokobi with a smile. 

"Wha? Why?" asked Sakura slowly looking confused. 

"Because your a good person. You told me the truth, which I know in this case, is definitely not an easy thing to do and you could have said nothing happened and tell the kids not to say anything about and blackmail them. Some of my employees had that case with their nannies," said Yorokobi good-heartedly. 

"Whoa. Blackmailing kids is low. If I ever did that I'd be in so much trouble by my mother! But thank you so much for the job! It means so much to me! I promise I won't let you down!" said Sakura very enthusiastically. 

Yorokobi laughed heartedly. "C'mon Sakura-san let's get you home," said Yorokobi as he held the door open for her. 

= = = = = = = = = = = End Of Flashback = = = = = = = = = = = 

"I still honestly can't believe he gave it to me! Honest or not! And he gave me good money just for that day," said Sakura with a smile on her face. 

"SAKURA!! Can you come down here!" shouted Mrs. Haruno. 

"Coming momma!" answered Sakura wondering is she was in trouble or not. 

"Sakura dear can you run some errands for me?" asked Mrs. Haruno as she was mopping the kitchen floor. 

"Sure thing!" said Sakura enthusiastically. 

"Good! Can you go to buy me from groceries? And also get some flowers. Our other ones are wilting," said Mrs. Haruno as she took out a small change purse from a drawer and handed it to Sakura. 

"There's a list in the purse and don't take to long ok?" confirmed Mrs. Haruno as she continued with the mopping. 

"Yes momma," said Sakura as she walked to the door to get her stuff on. She smiled as she picked up her leather high-healed boots. She smiled to herself. She always wanted these boots but she could never get them because of the price but with her new job she could buy them in less then one paycheck. She sometimes felt guilty with how much money she made but Yorokobi always told her it was non-sense. 

Sakura got out her black coat form the closet and put it around her self and placed the change purse in her pocket. 

"Momma I'm going now!" said Sakura opening the door. 

"Ok! Be back soon!" replied Mrs. Haruno. 

"I know!" said Sakura obediently as she walked out the door. 

'Damnit! I'm not a child!' growled Inner-Sakura. Sakura huffed and started walking towards the store. 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = LATER = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

Sakura had just finished buying her mother's groceries and left the store with four bags full. 

"Man I think she's trying to torture me! This stuff is heavy! Well all I need is her flowers," said Sakura sounding enthusiastic yet dull at the same time. 

"Oh well at least the flower shop isn't far form here," said Sakura to herself with a sigh. She continued walking down the streets and drifted into thought on a certain blonde haired boy. 

'That had to be Naruto, it should've been ... I haven't seen him since then though I hope he doesn't hate me ... wait why am I still thinking about him! That was months ago! He probably doesn't remember me, it's been to long since we last talked to each other,' though Sakura deeply. She snapped back to reality when she bumped into something or someone. Sakura fell down and so did the other figure. Sakura's groceries dropped and fell out of the bags and the other person's packages scattered around. 

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I wasn't concentrating at all!" said Sakura blushing furiously as she gathered her stuff and a bit of the other persons. 

"Don't worry about it, it was an accident," said the female voice with a laugh. The voice had a foreign accent to it. She smiled and gathered the rest of her stuff. 

"I know but I should have been more careful," said Sakura handing her the rest of her stuff. Sakura looked at the lady and she looked as though she was new to the country. Her skin was a tanned colour and she had curly ebony tresses. She wore a dark brown bandana on her head, which tied up to side of her head (similar to a gypsies bandana), which brought out her brown eyes. She wore clothes which looked similar to what a female peasant wore in the medieval times, over her clothes she wore a dark red cotton shawl, she may have appeared odd but overall she appeared to be a beautiful and nice person and she also appeared around Sakura's age. 

'Wow she dresses.... weird,' though Sakura to herself. 

"Sorry but I have to get going now, it was nice meeting you, and you should be careful with those boots once the snow starts coming which should be tonight or sooner well anyways see you later!" Said the lady with a smile as she started walking away. 

"Whoa ... predicting weather ... she's definitely weird," said Sakura to herself as she walked the rest of her way to the flower shop. 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = LATER = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

"Momma I'm home! And I got your flowers to!" Yelled Sakura as soon as she walked in the door. 

"Good! Can you bring them into the kitchen dear!" Said Mrs. Haruno from the kitchen. 

"Sure thing!" Replied Sakura taking off her shoes and coat. 

Sakura picked up the four heavy bags of groceries and she held the flowers under her arm as she walked towards the kitchen. 

"Oh thank you so much Sakura!" said Mrs. Haruno as she gave Sakura a kiss on the cheek and took the bags from her. 

"No problem. Hey so where should I put the flowers?" asked Sakura. 

"In a vase obviously! There's some in the cupboard though sweetie," said Mrs. Haruno sweetly. 

"Thanks ma," said Sakura with a smile though it was fake. Sakura took out a simple glass vase and placed it under the faucet to let water run in. She could hear tearing from the wrapper around the flowers. 

"Sakura! You got calla lilies! How beautiful!" Said Mrs. Haruno as she gave Sakura another kiss on the cheek. 

"Thanks momma. I knew you'd love them!" said Sakura as she handed her mother the vase. They both heard the door open. 

"I'm home!" Said a male voice. 

"Were in the kitchen darling!" Answered Mrs. Haruno. 

"Hey it's snowing! It took long enough to come. Christmas is going to come in a few weeks," said Mr. Haruno sounding pleased. 

"That's great! But you're shoveling the snow once it starts piling up!" Stated Mrs. Haruno with a small laugh. 

"I always do," sighed Mr. Haruno. 

'Hey didn't that weird woman say it was gonna snow tonight? I'm right she is weird!' Said Sakura to herself. 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

Sakura had just got out of her classes and she was now running as fast as her legs could (safely) carry her over the slushy snow to the bus stop so she could catch the bus to pick up the kids from their school. She never had to get up early in the morning to take them to school because their school was close to their house and Yorokobi left the house at the same time the kids would leave for school. 

'C'mon Sakura! You can make it! Keep running!!' Said Sakura supporting herself as she continued running. She ran over ice but didn't notice it (it was hidden under snow) until she fell to the ground. 

"Crap!" growled Sakura as she got back up on her feet and continued running to the bus stop. 

Sakura finally made it to the bus stop and saw her bus about to leave. She forced herself to run even faster to get to the bus and the bus luckily stopped and opened its door to let her in. 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = LATER = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

"Thank you!" said Sakura happily and nervously while getting off the bus. She quickly looked at her watch and noticed she was twenty minutes late and started sprinting to Yorokobi's mansion. 

"C'mon I can make it! Those poor kids! They must be shivering!" Worried Sakura and she took a short cut and continued running. 

"I'm almost there! ... I'm here!!" Joyously said Sakura and she unlocked the front gates and run up the stone stairs to which only led house and the lawn around it. 

"Sorry I'm late! The bus was stuck in traffic!" said Sakura quickly as she made the top. She deeply sighed and hugged both of the kids tightly. 

"It's ok Sakura-san! We made snowmans!" said Tsuki in his usual happy tone. 

"Sakura-san? I can't breath," said Kuraku plainly. 

"Sorry about that Kuraku-chan," replied Sakura with a small laugh as she let go of the two kids. 

"Hey! So do you kids wanna go inside?" asked Sakura as she walked towards the door. 

"Nope! I wanna finish my snowman," said Tsuki as he patted snow on the top boulder. Kuraku didn't say anything but she to was patting snow on her snowman so Sakura only assumed she wanted to stay outside as well. 

"Hey Sakura-san! I have a good idea! Can you and me make a snowman together! We can make a big snowman because you're big! My snowmans are always small," said Tsuki with quick changes of emotions. 

"Sure thing! Let's get started on the big boulder," said Sakura with a smile. 

Tsuki and Sakura continued working on their big snowman and soon Kuraku joined in with them, which made Sakura happy that Kuraku wasn't trying to avoid her or anything like that. 

"We did it! Our snowman is as big as you Sakura-san!" said Tsuki happily. 

Sakura smiled he was right about that. 

"That was fun," said Kuraku with a small smile. 

'Whoa! She smiled! I'm getting better at this then!' thought Sakura happily to herself. 

"Sakura-san? Can we go inside now?" asked Tsuki sweetly. 

"Sure thing kiddo!" said Sakura with a smile as she walked over towards the door to unlock it. Kuraku and Tsuki closely followed behind her. 

"While you two get your winter stuff off I'll go make some hot chocolate. Sound good?" asked Sakura as she placed the keys in her pocket. 

"Yes!" said both the kids at the same time Tsuki sounding more enthusiastic. Sakura nodded and walked towards the kitchen. As she got there she saw a yellow note on the counter that was addressed to her. She took off the letter from the counter and opened it. It read: __

Sakura I know this is short notice but one of Kuraku's class mates I think her name is Misao well anyways Misao will be coming over today at around four thirty to work on a school project. Misao's nanny is also going to be coming along with Misao two younger siblings (I think Kumo and Mori are their names but I'm not to sure about the nanny's name though). Sorry for the sudden change. 

_Yorokobi_

Sakura folded the note and put it in her pocket. 

"No problem, at least their nanny will be there to help," said Sakura as she looked over at the clock. It was only four. 

"I should get the water boiling," said Sakura s she took out a kettle and put it under the faucet. Sakura put the kettle on the stove and walked towards the entrance to see how the kids were doing. The kids were in their playroom obviously since there weren't in the entrance. Sakura smiled to herself as she saw Tsuki's winter clothes scattered around the entrance while Kuraku's were neatly put away. 

"Tsuki! Could you come here for a moment!" said Sakura loudly but sounding sympathetic at the same time. 

"Coming Sakura-san!" replied Tsuki as he came running to the entrance. 

"What's wrong Sakura-san?" asked Tsuki sounding energetic. 

"You didn't put your stuff away," said Sakura without sounding upset. 

"Sorry," said Tsuki sincerely. 

"How about I help you put it away?" asked Sakura sweetly. 

"Sure! My jacket it always so hard to put away! It' s hard to put my jacket on the hanger and it's too high! Sakura-san is it ok if you do my coat and I'll put away everything else? I think I can do," asked Tsuki as he gathered his mittens, hat and scarf. 

"Sure thing," replied Sakura sounding amazed as she took his coat and opened the closet. She took out the hanger and placed his jacket on it and put it the closet. She watched him put his mittens, hat and scarf in a small wooden box. 

Sakura smiled and ran back to the kitchen at the sound of the kettle {A/N: You know when the kettle makes that high pitch scream ^___^} and quickly took the kettle of the stove. She opened a cupboard and reached her hand up to get a couple of mugs. She heard footsteps come into the kitchen. 

"Hey Tsuki-kun," said Sakura pouring hot water into the mugs. 

"How'd you know it was me?" asked Tsuki. 

"I Just do," said Sakura with a smile. 

"Can I put my own chocolate dust in?" asked Tsuki rather cutely. 

"Don't see why not," answered Sakura as she opened another cupboard to get the hot chocolate powder. 

Tsuki cheered and got out a couple of spoons. 

"Sakura-san can I open the gate? Misao is here. Did you know that she was coming?" asked Kuraku in monotone. 

"It's four-thirty already? Well yeah sure let them in!" answered Sakura sweetly. 

"Sakura-san the counter is to high for me to reach," said Tsuki slightly whining. Sakura picked him up and placed him on top of the counter where he happily placed many scoops of hot chocolate powder into the mug. Sakura put scoops for Kuraku's hot chocolate and took out more mugs for Misao, her nanny, Kumo and Mori. Tsuki jumped down from the counter and tried reaching for his hot chocolate (which Sakura handed to him) and walked out of the kitchen, Sakura looked around for a tray and with success she found one and placed all the mugs and she walked out of t he kitchen. She heard the door open and heard people say their greetings but there was a voice, which was familiar to her, it was the same foreign voice she heard before. 

'There is no way!' thought Sakura to herself as she quickly placed the tray on a skinny table in the hall and walked towards the entrance and right there appearing in front of her wearing the same style of clothing and a matching bandana. It was the lady she bumped into the previous day. 

"Hello! So nice to see you again!" greeted the woman kindly as she helped one of the younger siblings with his jacket. 

"H-Hi, you must be the nanny," said Sakura oddly. 

"Yes. I'm Tilita-Camilia Zingaro. But you can call me Camilia like everyone else does," she said warmly while helping the other sibling with her jacket. 

Sakura looked over at the eldest of the kids (which is Misao) she had bright red hair with dark blue eyes. She looked very shy which reminded her allot of Hinata. She had to younger sibling with her they both were the same age (as Tsuki) and looked slightly alike (Sakura assumed they were twins) they both had light brown hair and dark blue eyes. 

"Hi Kumo! Hi Mori! Come and play!" said Tsuki with a laugh as he and the two twins ran into the playroom. 

"Sakura-san we'll be in my room," said Kuraku dully as she led Misao to her room. 

"Misa if you need anything don't hesitate to get me," offered Camilia with a smile 

"Ok Cami," replied Misao with a shy smile as she walked the rest of they up with Kuraku to Kuraku's room. 

"So would you like some hot chocolate?" asked Sakura as she walked back to the skinny table to get the tray. 

"No thank you, I'm fine," replied Camilia kindly. 

"Ok, would the kids like some Hot chocolate?" asked Sakura. 

"Their mother won't let them have chocolate drinks, or any drink relating to candy," replied Camilia with a sigh. 

Sakura had a weirded-out look on her face. 

"I know weird rules eh? Poor kids don't know what there missing, hey by the way I never got your name," stated Camilia with a smile on her face. 

"It's Sakura," replied Sakura simply. "But anyways why don't we go to the living room? They have a TV there so we can occupy ourselves since the kids are busy with there own business," suggested Sakura as she began making her way to the living room. 

"Sound great," agreed Camilia as she grabbed her big bag and followed Sakura. 

"This is a very nice house," said Camilia with awe as she took a seat. 

"Yeah. This is the type of house I'd love to live in," said Sakura with a small smile. 

Camilia nodded and took out a green tracksuit orange lining and a small sewing kit. Sakura eyes went wide. 

'Tha-thats Naruto's!' Thought Sakura to herself. 

"Oh do you mind if I fix these clothes?" asked Camilia noticing Sakura's look thinking she did something rude. 

"No not at all. Sorry it- I just know someone with the same suit," said Sakura with a nervous laugh. 

"Ok, thank you! These belong to a good friend of mine. He keeps training and always ripping his clothes and I'm always fixing them for him (she laughed heartily here) but I don't mind, I've gotten so used to it now," replied Camilia with a smile. 

Sakura noticed her hot chocolate and took a sip of it. 

"What is the name of your friend if you don't mind me asking," asked Sakura casually while taking another sip. 

"Of course not! His name is Naruto," answered Camilia as she started sewing a rip on his tracksuit. 

Sakura chocked on her hot chocolate, she swallowed it with a hard gulp. 

'She knows him! Ok Sakura don't act freaked out act casual!' demanded Sakura to herself. 

"Sakura-san is there anything wrong?" asked Camilia noticing an odd look on her face. 

"No! Nothing at all!" replied Sakura with a sweet smile. 

'This really is a small world afterall,' thought Sakura to herself. 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* 

Hey so there's chapter three! ^.^ Heh, anyways sorry if I didn't end the chapter to well but I promise the next one will come up shortly, well it's more of a little Christmas bonus I promise it will be cute! ^____^ 

Thanks for reading and please review! They keep me going! There my fuel! Tee hee ^___^ 

~SpiritGoddess 


	4. Chapter Four: You?

*~*~* Bruised or Healed *~*~* 

~ Chapter Four ~ 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto it belongs to the great Masashi Kishimoto. You know I saw a picture of him and he so FREAKING YOUNG!!! Well it was shocking to me because I was expecting him to be older. Judging by how mature he sounds on his interviews. I thought he was in his late thirties >.Author's Note: Hi everyone! Finally the Christmas chapter is now up! I really thought allot about how this one is going to be like and it's a chapter I really looked forward to be writing! ^___^ I hope you all like it as much as I loved writing it! ^___^ And to all you people waiting for Naruto to come, I hope you are pelased with his chapter! ^0^ 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* 

About two weeks had passed since Sakura last encounter with Camilia back when Camilia came over with her three kids so Kuraku and Misao could work on a project. Sakura remembered that day so vividly. The day Camilia brought over Naruto's green tracksuit. The suit he saved Tsuki in. 

'I'm so dumb I should've asked Camilia questions about Naruto. Who knows!? It might not even be the same Naruto as I knew. Maybe they both happen to have the same name and same tracksuit ... in the same size ... Damnit! I'm so dumb!' thought Sakura furiously as she started stabbing the chicken that she was cutting. 

"Sakura-san is the chicken really that hard to cut?" asked Tsuki able to listen Sakura cutting while he was playing with his car track set (that came with two mini-cars) which Sakura had given him for Christmas. 

Sakura looked at the chicken, which now looked as though it had acne scars with all her stabbing. 

"Yeah, It's very... rubbery," lied Sakura as she laughed nervously. 

"Sakura-san can I help you?" Said Tsuki as he watched his mini-cars do a loop on the track set. 

"I wouldn't mind having a little helper. Can you get me some tomatoes from the fridge?" asked Sakura sweetly. 

"OK Sakura-san!" replied Tsuki with a smile. 

It took Sakura another ten minutes to finally finish putting spices on the chicken and place it the oven plus another five minutes to make a salad (with the help of Tsuki of course!). 

"Sakura-san can we have rice to?" asked Tsuki as he got out a pan. 

"One step ahead of you," replied Sakura as she took a lid of on the pots to reveal rice. 

"Cool! What's for desert?" Asked Tsuki. 

"I don't know, that's up to your father," answered Sakura. 

"Again?" asked Tsuki sounding as though whining. 

"He is your father," replied Sakura with a small laugh. 

"Well while were waiting for your father to come back how about we play a game?" asked Sakura. 

"YAY! I love games! Which one are we playing? Can we play football (aka soccer)!?" Asked Tsuki excitedly. 

"We can't play soccer in the house sweetie," said Sakura. 

"I don't like that rule! Hey let's play monsters! Can you be the monster because it's funner when you're the monster!" Said Tsuki happily. 

Sakura smiled. "Ok but I'm gonna give you five seconds to run!" said Sakura in her witchy-monster voice as she started counting. 

Tsuki giggled and started running away. 

Sakura finished counting to five and started running after him but rather slowly so the game would be more fun for him. 

"I'm going to get you! Ahehehehehe!" Cackled Sakura in her witchy-monster voice. 

"Ahh! It's the evil Witch Lady! Run away!" said Tsuki fearfully though making it obvious that it was fake with his giggles in between words. 

"I'm going to eat you alive!" said Sakura shrilly. 

"Oh no! How will man kind live!" asked Tsuki now doing a voice of a news reporter. 

"I'm looking for a young boy to put into my lovely stew!" Cackled Sakura. 

"You will never catch me! Run awa- Daddy!!" Shouted Tsuki cheerfully as he saw his dad through the window he ran towards the entrance hall to meet with his father when he opened the door. Sakura smiled to herself and quickly ran into the kitchen to check on how dinner was doing. Luckily the chicken and rice was ready so she turned off the oven and stove. She put three plates out on the counter and quickly set the table. She walked out of the kitchen and walked towards the entrance hall to get ready to leave. 

"Sakura-san thank you for making dinner, and thank you for working today, Are you sure you didn't mind working on the eve of Christmas Eve?" asked Yorokobi when Sakura came into sight. 

Sakura smiled. "No not at all! You know I never mind being with the kids," answered Sakura with a smile as she opened the closet and took out her boots. 

"Well that's good but from now on you can have your break. Come back a week after January. Oh and here is your pay check and your Christmas bonus," said Yorokobi with a smile as he handed her two envelopes. 

Sakura took the envelopes and smiled. "Thank you so much!" said Sakura happily as she put her jacket on. 

"Do you want me to drive you home?" asked Yorokobi with Tsuki in his arms. 

"It's ok, I'm fine with the bus and luckily there's still some sun light out," said Sakura with a smile. 

"Ok then," answered Yorokobi kindly. 

"Wait Sakura-san we need to give you something!" said Tsuki trying to get down from his father arms. Yorokobi put him down and Tsuki grabbed hold of his father's hand. 

"Sakura-san wait here! Me and daddy will be back!" said Tsuki excitedly as he led his father up the stairs. 

Sakura smiled and nodded. And shortly after Tsuki came bolting down the stairs with a present wrapped in red paper with a golden bow on top of it all. 

"Here Sakura-san this is for you! From all of us!" said Tsuki cheerfully handing her the present 

Sakura smiled and took the present. "Thank you so much Tsuki-kun!" said Sakura happily as they both hugged each other, Tsuki gave her a kiss on the cheek. Sakura smiled. She and Tsuki soon both let go of their hug. 

"Thank you too Yorokobi-san," said Sakura with a smile. 

Yorokobi smile. "Your very welcome, you have yourself a good holiday," said Yorokobi with a smile. 

"I will," said Sakura while opening the door. "But if you need me for anything don-" 

"Sakura-san we'll be fine, take this time to relax," said Yorokobi returning to his usual calm self. 

Sakura smile. "Ok, but I honestly wouldn't mind," said Sakura sweetly stepping out of the house. 

"Bye Sakura-san! I'll miss you!" said Tsuki. Sakura nodded. 

"I'll miss you too! Tell Kuraku I wish her a Merry Christmas to ok Tsuki?" asked Sakura sweetly. 

"I will! I promise Sakura-san!" said Tsuki with a cute smile. 

"OK! Have fun you guys!" said Sakura as she started walking down the stairs. Yorokobi both smiled and nodded and shut the door. Sakura smiled to herself and started walking her way to the bus stop. 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = LATER = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

"Ahh, I'm finally home!" said Sakura with a pleased sigh as she shut the door behind her and leaned her back against it. 

Sakura didn't greet her parents because they weren't home and they wouldn't come back until a couple of days after January. Her parents were out on a trip to Europe. {A/N: I've always wanted to go to Europe! It's in my list of things to do but will probably never happen ^^'} Her father won the trip from work. He was dubbed employee of the month of December and since December was the month of Christmas a special prize was always given out. Mr and Mrs. Haruno had both suggested on returning the tickets since it was only a trip for two but Sakura refused that and told them both to go ahead with their trip. It took Sakura allot of convincing for them to go but they finally went on their trip. It never really bothered Sakura much that here parents weren't spending Christmas with her. Christmas didn't seem important to her as it used to she sometimes felt sad about it but somehow it was a feeling she couldn't control. 

Sakura took off her coat and boots and sloppily put them away. She looked at the gift that Tsuki, Yorokobi and (assumingly) Kuraku had given her. She felt tempted to open it but she took and placed it under the Christmas tree in the living room. She smiled to herself and walked upstairs to her room. She got undressed and took out her lavender bathrobe from her closet and put it around her body. 

"I need a warm bath," said Sakura quietly to herself. She didn't know why but she suddenly started feeling tense and felt as though a hot bath was needed. She was in the bathroom and sat on the verge of the bathtub. She turned on the water tap and let it run. She ran her fingers through the water and she started to feel relaxed. After awhile the bathtub finally got full and Sakura turned off the tabs. She took off her bathrobe and dropped it onto and floor and got into the bathtub. She had a sigh of relief as the warm water covered her body. She rested her head on the verge of the bathtub and closed her eyes, she felt so relaxed she felt as though she could fall asleep. 

About nearly an hour later Sakura had finished her bath and was now in the living room sitting on a couch watching TV. She still had her lavender bathrobe on and her wet pink hair was wrapped in a watching towel. Sakura rested her head on a pillow and continued watching TV. The show, which she was watching, wasn't too interesting and Sakura was slowly falling asleep. 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = 

Sakura woke up the next morning feeling cold. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes. She lifted her head but it felt heavier then usual. 

"Crap! I fell asleep with my towel on!" said Sakura rather loudly as she bolted off the couch. The TV was still on but Sakura quickly turned that off. She ran upstairs into the bathroom and took her towel off from around her head. 

"Damn it! It's still moist!" said Sakura running her hand through her hair. She opened a drawer and took out a hair dryer. 

"Might as well get it dry. I might not get sick," said Sakura with slight hope as she roughly plugged in the hair dryer and flicked the switch and started running the hair dryer over her head. 

A few moments after her Sakura came out of the bathroom with her hair fully dried. 

'Stupid TV show! If it wasn't so boring I wouldn't of fallen asleep!' roared Inner-Sakura. Sakura sighed to herself and walked downstairs to the kitchen. She sat on the kitchen counter. 

"Today is going to be so boring! There's nothing to do ... I could go shopping but it's Christmas Eve and everything is going to be crazy and incredibly packed," muttered Sakura to herself while swinging her feet. 

"I should be having breakfast but I' don't feel at all hungry, oh well might as well eat something while I'm here," said Sakura to herself as she took bread out of the pantry, then she opened a cupboard under the sink and took out a toaster. She plugged it in the toaster and popped in two slices of bread and pushed down the switch. Sakura smiled to herself and walked into the living room where the Christmas tree was. She looked down onto the Christmas tree and spotted the present Tsuki, Yorokobi and Kuraku had given her the previous night. She smiled to herself again and picked up the present. She sat down on the couch and rested the gift of her lap. 

"Should I open it now? Or save for Christmas morning?" pondered Sakura. 

'HELL YEAH! Open it NOW!' cheered Inner-Sakura punching and kicking air. 

Sakura smiled like an eager child on their birthday, she gingerly took off the golden bow and soon after started ripping off the paper wrapped around it. She opened the box to see two envelops, a piece of folded red construction paper and something wrapped in tissue paper. Sakura took out the construction paper knowing that would be a homemade card by Tsuki. On the front of the card was a snowman made with cotton balls and under the snowman Tsuki wrote 'Shimo' which was the name he had given to the big snowman that he, Kuraku and Sakura had build previously. She smiled to herself and opened the card. The card was decorated with glitter and had two drawings, one which was a Christmas tree made with crayons (with a hint of green glitter) and the other drawing was one of her and Tsuki holding hands and under the drawings he wrote 'Merry Christmas' Sakura smiled to herself and held the card close to her as though hugging it. 

'He's such a sweet kid, it makes me so happy to know him,' said Sakura happily to herself as she placed the card on the coffee table. She heard her toast pop out of the toaster but she ignored it and continued on with her present. She took out another envelope and opened it and it revealed folded black construction paper. On the front there was a golden moon with silver snowflakes and silver banks of snow. She smiled and opened the card on the left side of the card was a drawing of a brick fire place with a Christmas tree beside it Sakura smiled to herself, she was amazed with how well Kuraku could draw and on the left side was a note which said: 

_Dear Sakura-san, I hope you like our present for you. Father and I picked it out. Tsuki helped too but he only picked out the colour. Have a merry Christmas and good New Year. And Sakura-san please try relaxing during your break because lately you have seemed to be thinking allot about something and judging the look of your face it something that you regret like asking for information about something or someone. Well anyways enjoy your holidays. _

Kuraku 

"Whoa. That was weird. Kuraku has been observing me? Well at least this letter shows that she's starting to care about me and not acting so distant. It's scary how she does it but it's sweet of her to care," said Sakura warmly as she put Kuraku's card on the coffee table. Sakura reached for the other envelope and opened it. It was a store-bought Christmas card she opened it but it had very few writing from Yorokobi but it didn't bother her since the card came with a Christmas poem. She read it and smiled and placed it down with the other cards on the coffee table. She finally took out the present, which was wrapped in green tissue paper. It felt soft and Sakura could tell it was clothing. She unwrapped it to reveal mittens, hat and scarf it was the colour red, Sakura smiled remembering when Tsuki had told her that red was his favourite colour, she also loved how they looked, they looked so beautiful it made her eager to wear them outside to show them off to people. She saw tags hanging from them and just for the sake of it she looked at them and her eyes went wide with shock when she saw that they were a designer label. 

'I should just enjoy it and not worry about the price, there such a kind family,' thought Sakura happily to herself, she placed them delicately on the coffee table and looked at them for a while. 

"Oh what am I doing!? I have to show Ino this! She's probably going to kill me. But the look on her face will be worth it. This will be a good Christmas after all!" said Sakura happily as her stomach started to growl. 

"After I have breakfast," said Sakura with sigh as she went to the kitchen to eat her breakfast. 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

"You're kidding me! This is your Christmas present! These are like ten thousand yen {A/N: That's about 84.45 in USA dollars} each! And it's by my favourite designer! I hate you so much! And you get like three weeks off of work! And I'm stuck here on Christmas Eve!" said Ino with a sigh. 

"Don't you get off early?" asked Sakura while admiring her mittens. 

"Now that you mention it I do! I almost forgot that!" said Ino cheerfully. "Good, how about we go out for lunch? I'll buy," said Sakura with a smile. 

"You better! With all that money you make!" said Ino with a small laugh. 

Sakura laughed. She looked around the flower shop and smiled. She didn't know why but it always smelled more floral during the winter. 

"Here Sakura let's leave now, I'm hungry and I wanna get the hell outta here!" stated Ino as she grabbed her blue coat from under the counter. 

"But won't your mother get mad at you for closing the shop early?" asked Sakura. 

"Yeah but she's gonna get mad at me anyways for not cleaning my room or making my bed this morning," said Ino with an annoyed sigh. "Well anyways let's go!" ordered Ino while walking out of the shop. 

Sakura held in her laugh and followed Ino and watched her as she turned the sign to "closed" and locked the door. 

"So where are we going?" asked Ino eagerly. 

"I don't care anything that has food," answered Sakura with a smile while watching the snow falling. 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

"Uck! I'm soaking wet!" said Sakura with a small laugh as she walked into her house and took off her shoes. Sakura glanced over the clock and it read eight PM. 

"Whoa! I've been out all day. Go figure I'm flat broke now," sighed Sakura while taking off her jacket. 

She had just come back from dinner with Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji. After she and Ino had lunch they met up with both of the guys while walking through a mall (Ino wanted to try on practically all the clothes in the mall even though she didn't plan on buying anything). After they met they all spend a couple of hours having a snowball fight except this went to the extreme it was more of a war, well a war mainly between Ino and Shikamaru, but after they all started feeling rather hungry so they all went out to dinner (Sakura wasn't hungry though so she only had a small salad). Sakura really enjoyed the dinner there were many laughs and the conversation were always interesting, but of course when the bill came it was at an insanely expensive cost due to Chouji's eating habits, which made them all broke. As soon as they got out of the restaurant they started another snowball fight (or should we say war?) this time it was everyone against Chouji and then soon it became everyone against each other as soon as Shikamaru "accidentally" threw a snowball at Ino. 

Now Sakura was lying on the couch in the living room as though she was dead. 

"Man, I'm so wet and cold ... it'd probably make allot of since to get changed so I won't get sick," muttered Sakura lazily as she forced herself off the couch and slowly walked to her room to get changed into her red cotton pants and into an oversized grey sweater. She opened her drawer to reveal her stash of chocolates. She took out a box and started eating. 

"Hmm this is to boring ... maybe if I start reading that book that momma gave me about that etiquette crap that she thinks I need to read," said Sakura with part disgust. She looked under her bed with all of her other abandoned things and she finally found it. 

"Finally found the stupid thing!" growled Sakura. She rested her bed and propped herself with pillows and she started reading begging at the prologue. 

"God, who ever knew a prologue could be so boring," said Sakura with a bored yawn. 

"Once you master these techniques you will be beloved by others because or your talents for etiquette, blah blah blah," said Sakura partly reading from the book. 

"Forget it there's better ways to spend my Christmas!" growled Sakura as she threw the book across her room. 

"Like ... sleeping," said Sakura with a sigh. She changed her oversized sweater into a pink t-shirt and tucked her self in bed. 

"Good night you loser," said Sakura to herself as she closed her eyes. 

* * * * *

Sakura was sleeping peacefully until she heard tapping on her window. She slowly opened her eyes waiting to hear it again in case it was possibly a fragment of her imagination, but she heard it again. She turned around to face her window but saw nothing. 

'It's probably just the wind blowing the stupid tree branches,' thought Sakura to herself as she tried to back to sleep. But the tapping continued but the tapping started getting harder. Sakura angrily huffed and got out of her bed to her window to see what was wrong but when she got to it she saw nothing. She turned around to go back to her bed. 

"Stupid Nature!" hissed Sakura angrily. She heard the tapping again and quickly turned around to open the window. She quickly scanned the area to see if it was some mischievous kids but she saw nothing. The wind started blowing she closed her eyes enjoying the wind against her face but soon after it started to get cold so she opened her eyes and slowly closed her window. She turned around and came face to face with a pair of blue eyes. 

Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs with fear and stumbled backwards. 

"Sakura-chan! Calm down, it's me Naruto!" said a voice calmly. 

At the word "Naruto" Sakura instantly stopped screaming, she slowly stood back up on her two legs and tried to get a good look of the man who stood in front of her. From what she could tell with the moonlight he had blonde hair and blue eyes and at the side of his face he had scratched which looked like whiskers. 

"Sakura-chan it's me, Naruto? Do you remember?" asked Naruto with a smile on his face. 

Sakura had a small smile. He still looked the same, his voice was deeper but he didn't change much. She smiled more broadly. 

"Yes, I remember you but one question ... What do you think your doing sneaking in my house at this hour! You scared the living hell outta me!" half-shouted Sakura as she smacked the side of his face. 

Sakura gasped after she did this. 'Why the hell did I just smack him?!' asked Sakura nervously to herself. 

"Good to know that you haven't changed much," said Naruto with a small laugh as he rubbed his cheek. 

'Man that really hurt!' thought Naruto to himself. 

"Naruto I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do it! Here let me see that," said Sakura worriedly as she got closer to him to see the part of his face, which she hit. 

'Damn I can't see anything!' muttered Sakura to herself as she turned on the lights, it stung her eyes but she ignored it and got back to Naruto. 

"Sakura-chan, don't worry I'll be fine," answered Naruto heartily. 

"You sure?" asked Sakura worridly. 

"Yes, I'm positive," replied Naruto with a smile. Sakura smiled and put her hand on his cheek and slowly starting running it through his hair. Naruto could see that tears started welling up in her eyes. She blinked and tears started to slowly run down her cheek. 

"Naruto ... I'm so happy to see you again," said Sakura softly as she wrapped her arms around him and started sobbing. Naruto smiled and wrapped his arms around her. 

"I missed you so much," sobbed Sakura. 

"Sakura-chan, I'm sorry for leaving ... l missed you too ... I always thought about you that's why I had to come here," whispered Naruto into her ear. Naruto used his fingers to bring up her head so he could look into her eyes. He wiped away her tears with his thumb and he slowly brought his face closer to kiss her forehead. 

"Sakura-chan will you accompany me tonight for Christmas? For once I'd like to spend it with someone special to me," asked Naruto with a smile. Sakura looked into his eyes with a smile and gently nodded. 

"Really? That's great! C'mon let's go!" said Naruto excitedly as he opened the window (it's those type of windows that open like door doors instead of sliding them open) and jumped on the ledge maintaing perfect balance. Sakura smiled to herself, he was the same energetic self. 

"But I'm still in my pyjamas! And I only have socks on my feet!" said Sakura sounding slightly shocked with the whole idea of getting out through the window. 

"Your Pyjamas are fine! And I'll carry you to where we are going," replied Naruto with a kind smile. 

"Fine, but let me at lest get a sweatshirt," answered Sakura as she quickly pulled out a red sweatshirt that buttoned up at the front. She quickly put it on and only did up only three buttons. Naruto smiled and jumped out of the window. Sakura ran towards the window and looked down to see Naruto smiling back up at her. 

"Sakura-chan jump down and I'll catch you!" said Naruto loudly. 

Sakura looked pretty nervous but she climbed on the ledge and held on with dear life, with one arm she closed with windows and she closed her eyes and let go falling into Naruto's back. 

"Oops, sorry," said Sakura rather shyly. 

"It's ok as long as you're safe," replied Naruto sincerely. He got back up with Sakura holding on to him with her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. As soon as he was on his feet Sakura dropped her legs and Naruto held them (like a piggy-back ride type of thing) and started running. 

"Where are going?" asked Sakura as she leaned her head against his. 

"You'll find out, it'll take a while before we get there so you can sleep if you want," answered Naruto while looking in front of him. 

"Ok," replied Sakura slowly as she started falling asleep. 

* * * * *

"Sakura-chan? You can wake up now," said Naruto in a low voice while shaking her shoulder. 

Sakura groaned and opened her eyes, she was in an unfamiliar bed and in an unfamiliar room, she figured it was Naruto's home. 

"How long was I sleeping?" asked Sakura as she sat up from in his bed. 

"Not that long maybe just an hour? Anyways come with me," said Naruto as he reached out a helping hand. Sakura smiled and took his hand and brought herself up. 

"Here close you eyes, just so it will make it seem more special," said Naruto with a sweet smile. Sakura couldn't resist and she closed her eyes, he still held her hand and led her to where ever he wanted her to go. 

"Sakura-chan you can open your eyes now!" said Naruto cheerfully (still holding Sakura's hand). 

Sakura opened her eyes to see a dinner table set for two. There were sterling silver plates and sterling silver forks, spoons and knifes even the drinking glasses looked fancy there were also two bowls beside the plates. In the middle of the table there was a turkey, with a big pot of rice on the left of it and to the right of the turkey was a big pot of ramen (the only thing which didn't surprise Sakura) there was also a salad. Sakura looked at it with complete awe. 

"Naruto this is so wonderful!" said Sakura happily. 

"Thanks. I worked all day on making it perfect just for you," replied Naruto with a smile. 

"Here take a seat," said Naruto leading (he's still holding her hand) Sakura to her seat. He let go of her hand to pull out her chair. She smiled sweetly at him and took a seat as he tucked in her chair; he quickly went to his chair and sat down. They both looked at each other and started serving themselves. Naruto cut out a huge piece of turkey and took a whopping amount of ramen. Sakura sat there watching him. 

"Sakura-Chan aren't you hungry?" asked Naruto holding a turkey leg in front of his face. 

Sakura stammered with this question, she was hungry she hadn't really ate dinner but if she said yes she probably would of sounded stupid since she was just looking at him but she didn't want to say no because it would be lying and also it would've probably hurt his feelings after all he went through to prepare this meal. 

"Don't tell me you're on one of those diets? Sakura-chan you don't need a diet your perfect! Don't try changing yourself," said Naruto snapping Sakura out of her thoughts. Sakura looked into his eyes and they had a concerned expression. 

"Ok, I'll eat something," replied Sakura going along with the diet thing. Naruto smiled warmly and continued with his eating. 

* * * * *

About an hour passed and the dinner plates laid on the table abandoned. They were both sitting on a couch talking to each other. Sakura was laughing listening to some of Naruto's stories where we got stuck in bad situations such as when he tried saving a cat for a little girl but afterwards her mother started hitting him with her purse thinking that Naruto was bothering her daughter and the cat, but then suddenly something came to her mind. 

"Naruto-kun? ... Can I ask you something?" asked Sakura rather shyly. 

Naruto looked amazed that she finally had called him 'Naruto-kun' he could've jumped up and down with joy but he remained calm. "Of course, Sakura-chan," replied Naruto wondering what she wanted to say. 

"Why... why did you leave Konoha village? And without saying good bye?" asked Sakura to sounding slightly sad and not making eye contact. 

That question really hit Naruto hard, he never thought of her asking that. He did have a reason for leaving but he really didn't want to reveal it. He left because he was sick of it, he was sick of how peaceful and boring it was, he was sick of the same routine of being hated by the villagers becomes of some stupid fox spirit inside him, but if he said it like that to Sakura it would've seemed that he quit on becoming Hokage, that he quit trying to make everyone to acknowledge him but he didn't quit on that he still had the same burning desire to become hokage! He always thought that he left because he wanted to train by himself and by his own rules but he wasn't to sure of why himself. 

"Well ... Sakrua-chan I have no good reason I just wanted to try something new," answered Naruto looking at the ground. 

Sakura knew that wasn't the full answer that there was more behind the reason why he left but Sakura didn't try to make him tell her, she knew how stubborn he was. She had a feeling that he is going to tell her ... but she would just have to wait for the time to come, but he still didn't answer why he left without any good byes. 

"Sakura-chan ... I'm sorry for leaving without a good bye," said Naruto as he turned his head to look at her. 

She turned and looked at him. "But why didn't you say good bye?" asked Sakura softly. 

"I thought ... that you wouldn't care," answered Naruto looking away from Sakura. 

"I was so devastated when you left! Why would you think that I wouldn't care?" asked Sakura with concern written all over her face. 

"Because ... you seemed to never care about me before, you were always busy chasing Sasuke and never cared if I was alive or not," replied Naruto sounding slightly scared of what Sakura's reaction would be. 

'He's right ... I was always so mean to him and always pushed him away to chase Sasuke who would push me away,' thought Sakura to herself, there was a long awkward silence. 

"Sorry, I shouldn't of said that," said Naruto sounding rather sad. 

"No, you were right ... I was always mean to you and acted as though I never cared but Naruto I did care, Sasuke was just a crush, sure I may of been to fond of him but was just a crush-" 

"He was a crush?" asked Naruto hiding the fact that he was incredibly joyous when she just said that 'Sasuke was just a crush.' 

"Yes just a crush, I have no feelings towards him anymore," replied Sakura rather bitterly. 

"May I ask why? You seemed so attached to him," asked Naruto with caring eyes. 

Sakura got up from the couch and stood right in front of him and started walking around saying "Well ... it was on his birthday, months before I started making his present I planned on making him a pot and grow a flower in it to give to him, It took me about two months to make the perfect pot and another three months just for the flower to grow into a stupid bud! Well I was so proud with it I worked so hard on it and I was really proud of it! And when his birthday came I was so happy sure that he'd appreciate it but when I gave it to him he looked at it with disgust and didn't even dare to look at me. And instead of muttering a thanks or anything he just called it trash and dropped it on the ground and the pot broke, and I spend so much time on it I spend months perfecting it. He didn't even just hand it back he just dropped it to let it break. And of course it cut me deep but it got me the angriest I've ever felt! All that work was wasted and I did something that I thought I'd never do to Sasuke ... I slapped him hard across his face, by the look on his face he looked just as shocked as I was but what gets me mad now was that I ran away crying but I stopped when I got home and realized what I was thinking what I had sacrificed and what I had become and I've been happier since I finally let it go," answered Sakura emotionally while walking around and doing hand motions. 

Naruto couldn't help but feel bad for her, which could easily be read by the look in his eyes. He to got up from his seat and walked closer towards Sakura, he looked into her eyes and hugged her. 

"It's ok if you want to cry Sakura-chan, you can let it all out," said Naruto calmly. 

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "No, there's no reason too, it was a good thing because I finally could live much more happier I started being friends with Ino again and I found myself finally having some self-respect," answered Sakura her voice sounding slightly muffled. Naruto had a feeling that Sakura was only lying to sound brave but he wasn't to sure. He looked down on her long pink hair, he brought his hand and started running it through her hair something he had been aching to do ever since he first saw her. 

Sakura brought her head up and looked into his blue eyes and beamed at him. 

"Naruto-kun thank you," whispered Sakura as she leaned over and delicately kissed his neck. Naruto cupped his hand under her chin and slowly brought his lips toward hers but Sakura pulled away. 

"Naruto-kun I'm sorry but this seems wrong," said Sakura taking three steps backwards. 

"Why?" asked Naruto (sadly) stepping towards her. 

"Because I just figured out that there was a mistletoe above us," answered Sakura simply. 

Naruto blushed but didn't say anything, he probably sounded stupid to Sakura for putting that there in the first place. 

"You don't a need a mistletoe as an excuse to kiss me," Naruto head shot up he looked at Sakura to see her elegantly smiling. "See here's another reason why I'm happy why that Sasuke-thing happened ... I finally realised how I feel for you, ever since you left I've been miserable I could never really guess why but then it hit me it was because of you. You're the one who brought happiness into my day you were my happiness ... Naruto ... I lov-" But Sakura was cut off. Naruto placed his two fingers on her lips to silence her he looked into her eyes and with his fingers he started outlining her lips. He removed his finger and smiled. He ran his hand through her hair and stopped as he reached the back of her head and he slowly brought her face closer to his. His other hand went around her waist. Sakura slowly closed her and she soon felt his warm lips against hers. She could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes but she fought them back. She left his lips now at her neck kissing her slowly and tauntingly; he kissed from her neck to her chin to her mouth once again. But this time the kiss was more passionate more deeper then before. Sakura started to feel dizzy with happiness as he started kissing her neck again. 

"I ... love you ... Sakura," said Naruto slowly in between kisses. Sakura cupped his chin and leveled his eyes with her and smiled, she brought her lips to his and kissed him deeply, he quickly replied to the kiss and tightened his embrace around her. 

'I can't believe this is happening, it has to be a dream ... no it's real it's all real, he's finally here with me,' thought Sakura happily to herself. 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* 

I'm finally finished! You know I thought this chapter was supposed to be allot shorter but I found myself to keep on writing and writing! Well I hoped you all enjoyed I really did think allot about it and worked on it like crazy! This in my Christmas present to you all! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! ^.^ I love you all! ^___^ 

~SpiritGoddess 

And the story isn't over yet incase it may of seemed like so. 


End file.
